The New York City Department of Buildings has announced that New York City will be adopting a new construction code as of October 1st, 2014. Building permits issued prior to that date will be subject to the 2008 New York City Construction Codes. The 2014 code is based on the 2009 edition of the International Building Code, with some modifications – many of them based on Selected Local Laws.

I reviewed Local Law 141, which includes the NYC-specific modifications to the IBC. [Text in brackets is text that has been deleted], and underlined text is new. Local Law 141 is available here, but when I tried to access it I received an error message. If you have the same problem, you can right-click on the link and choose “save target as” or “save link as” depending on your browser, which will allow you to download the PDF to your hard drive.

I noted a few changes of interest (let me know if you find others!):

1008.1.9.3 Locks and latches – This section still contains the exception that addresses roof doors: “Stairways leading from the top floor to a roof may be provided with locked wire mesh gates openable by key in Occupancy Group E. The use of a hook and eye closing device on the inside of all doors to roofs shall be permitted.”This exception is specific to New York City.

1008.1.9.4 Bolt locks – There was language added in the 2009 IBC which allows the use of manual flush bolts on pairs of doors in a means of egress that meet certain criteria. This language has now been added to the NYC code.

1008.1.9.8 Electromagnetically locked egress doors – This section addresses applications where electromagnetic locks are released by hardware mounted on the door leaf rather than by a motion sensor (for locks released by a sensor, the NYC code section that applies is called 1008.1.4.4 Access-controlled entrance doors). The section addressing mag-locks released by door-mounted hardware was added to the 2009 IBC, and will now be included in the 2014 NYC code.

1008.1.10 Panic and fire exit hardware – Previous editions of the code required panic or fire exit hardware for Group A and E occupancies with an occupant load of 75 or more, as well as some High Hazard occupancies. This language has changed in the 2014 NYC code to: “Doors serving a Group H occupancy and doors serving rooms or spaces with an occupant load of 50 or more in a Group A or E occupancy shall not be provided with a latch or lock unless it is panic hardware or fire exit hardware.” (There is an exception for key-operated locks.)

403.5.3 Stairway door operation – The previous section that addressed locking stairwell doors (stair side only) was replaced, but still contains some different requirements than what is required by the 2009 IBC.

2406 Safety glazing – The 2009 IBC includes more stringent impact-resistance requirements for glazing used in fire door assemblies, and this section has been incorporated into the 2014 NYC code. Most notably, the exception for traditional wired glass in fire door assemblies has been removed. This section also contains the requirements for marking each lite of glass.

If there are specific issues you’d like me to research in the new NYC code, just leave a comment below. Please pass this update along to any of your colleagues who work on projects in NYC.

Here is a presentation on the 2014 NYC Construction Codes by Keith Wen, RA, Technical Advisor to the Office of the Commissioner. It doesn’t address door-specific requirements but does cover the basics of the code change.

20 Responses to “NYC Code Update”

I want to install a manual flush bolt on the roof stairwell access door. CThis is a residential loft building with an elevator and five floors which has five loft units. There is an existing interior pani bar ehich , if fixed, would lock you out of the building when one goes to enjoy the roof deck. The bolt could be slid to the lock position with the door ajar so folks could insre yhey aren’t locked out. Would I need to remove the panic bar so that it is clear that the manual bolt is the only option. The existing anic bar offers no security against people from adjacent buildings accessing our building from the roof. The loft is located in NYC.
Best regards,
dd

Hello
This suite entrance corridor door off the elevator lobby;has a electric mortise lock which is controlled via a card reader system. The door lock is tied into the building fire system therefore in the event of fire alarm the fail safe mortise locks lever on the secure side releases which allows you to gain access to the inside suit fire stairwells. It noted that this door must maintain a positive latch. My question to you is Now we need to make this door a ADA entrance door into the suite. It will have two ADA push paddles and a door operator. what type of lock will I need to used and still keep the door within code?
Can you help me out?
Thanks
Linda

Hello
in NYC, do all doors with magnetic locks have to be tied into their buildings fire alarm system. these magnetic lock door currently do have switches inside the crash bars that do allow one push out.
Thanks
Linda

I checked the 2014 NYC Building Code, and this application (a mag-lock released by a switch in the door-mounted hardware) is addressed in section 1008.1.9.8. This section does not require the lock to be released by the fire alarm system. If a mag-lock is released by a sensor that detects an approaching occupant (instead of a switch in door-mounted hardware), it has to comply with section 1008.1.4.4, which does require the lock to unlock upon activation of the fire alarm.

Great info. Question is: are the electromagnetically locked egress doors actually LEGAL in NY ? And who would a landlord apply with to get a permit to install them ? DOB ? HPD ? DHCR ? Thanks in advance for your answer!

Do you need to be a licensed locksmith in NYC to install mag locks and or strikes? I’ve been in the industry for 10 years and one of my installers swears you need a locksmith license to install them. I think he’s incorrect but i cant find documentation that proves him otherwise. I have always followed code ( fire alarm release, motions on the egress side, etc) Can someone help? We are a licensed security contractor in NYC. i just need some clarity.

I checked with someone in NYC and their answer was “no,” but I don’t have direct experience there so you might want to ask around some more. I’m not even sure which department would be able to answer that.

I need to install locking pull on main entrance door. Someone is telling me that the “new” rule is requiring that pulls must be 10″ off the floor. I can’t find anything at all in building code what regulates the locking pull installation.

The accessibility standards prohibit protruding hardware in the bottom 10 inches of manual doors on the push side of the door. It’s ok to have the pull extend into that area on the pull side, but not if it’s mounted on the push side. Here’s an article about it: https://idighardware.com/2012/03/decoded-flush-bottom-rails/.

Hi Lori – I see 1008.1.10 Panic and fire exit hardware – “Doors serving a Group H occupancy and doors serving rooms or spaces with an occupant load of 50 or more in a Group A or E occupancy shall not be provided with a latch or lock unless it is panic hardware or fire exit hardware.” I’m working on a group A-2, occupancy of 130 people. I understand that the main entrance/exit of the restaurant doors can not have a latch. Am I still required to install a panic bar even if the doors have no latch? Thanks.

I apologize – I’ve been having trouble with the commenting on my website, so this didn’t come through until now. An assembly occupancy could have push/pull hardware with no ability to lock it, and you would not need panic hardware. There is also a section in the IBC that allows a double-cylinder deadbolt instead of panic hardware on the main entrance of an assembly occupancy with an occupant load up to 300 people. If you need the door to be lockable and you don’t want to use a double-cylinder deadbolt, you would need panic hardware.

I’m reviewing a hardware set meant for a stairwell door that is used for emergency egress. Is it possible to use an electric strike (can be programmed to be either fail-safe or fail-secure) with a rim exit device (from inside the stairwell following egress). I’ve been told it’s not code compliant and to use an electrified lockset but don’t know enough to see the difference.

If the door is required to unlock upon fire alarm and allow reentry back into the building, I would not use an electric strike. A fail secure strike will not allow the door to be opened from the stair side when power is cut. A fail safe strike will not keep the fire door latched as required. A fail safe electromechanical lock, fail safe trim for fire exit hardware, or an electromagnetic lock (always fail safe) with non-lockable latching hardware would meet both requirements – reentry and positive-latching.

Thanks for the quick response. I’m still a little unsure about the hardware in question. It might be best to describe the application. It is a stairwell door going from the lobby to the second floor/new addition we have on the roof. Our client wants this door to be locked from the lobby side to prevent random people from entering the new addition but allow occupants to exit whenever by pushing on the rim exit device from the stairwell side. Wouldn’t a fail-secure strike lock when power is cut/when a fire occurs and prevent anybody from going the wrong way in case of a fire but still allow occupants to exit?

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